I start this post with a disclaimer... this list is up for discussion. These are arguably, and I stress the word arguably, the top 10 character names in fiction. In fact, when I discussed this list with my husband he thought there was more than one name that should be removed from the list. I kept them on anyway. It is, after all, my list. And really what I want to start is a discussion.
Why? As an author naming your characters is vitally important. Sometimes, in my world, the characters name themselves. In this sort of organic way, there is only one name that fits them and they bestow their own name upon me. For example, Ryan McGuire from my novel, This Moment. His name never changed from the time I started putting words on paper until the time the book was ready to publish. In other cases I must write for a while, take time to get to know my characters and use placeholders until their real name comes to me. I wonder, how do other writers work?
The following authors mastered the art of character naming. Without further ado, here is my list.
- Katie Scarlett O'Hara from Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. -- A fierce heroine whose name is equal amounts of flirty and strong.